Mechwarrior online.

Free, online “shooter”, good community, runs on linux, gameplay is dated and doesnt get tons of dev support anymore but its still how I kill an evening once or twice a week.

One of my buddies has a big time thing for high heels, but only if he cant see toes because he thinks feet are disgusting.

Backfired big time too.

Most of the big older guys realised that walking around all day is actually a pretty low pressure and laid back gig even if you are on your feet all day and dont want to go back on the machines once they are getting like 20,000 steps a day and lose the weight.

Some companies spend a lot of money on market research and trying to get ahead of trends (Mercedes Benz, Honda, Toyota) some companies disregard common sense and do what they want (Alfa, The French in general) and cheaper brands dont waste the money on price point cars. Its not an Iron clad rule but people buy a german to project wealth, you buy other euros to project style, you buy Honda and Toyota for reliability. You buy a Nissan Altima because they will finance you, you buy a Chinese car because you arent keeping it past warranty expiry anyway.

As to what sets them apart. Little things like painted brake calipers, the quality of the badging, the texture on the plastic interior, little trim pieces that stop you seeing any of the interior workings, the windscreen wipers looking “chunky”. Wheels and stance also play a large part of the image. Wide wheels simply look more expensive, as do lower profile tyres.

Then things get a little more tactile, the dull thump when you shut the door over the higher pitched clank, the thickness of the interior plastics and number of fasteners making the interior feel sturdier even though you cant see the difference, the sensation of the indicators being put on, the UI on the touchscreen…

Prestige brands also dont do trim level names/badges very often. They like letters and numbers like 330i M-Sport or c65 AMG. Lexus followed suit with the LS400. They WANT you to say “Yeah, I got the Touring package” or “I bought the AMG sports pack” and they know their owners want to do it too.

Now I dont work in the law enforcement industry but I do work in an industry that has supposed fitness requirements although they arent enforced.

For us, the union told them “If they have to maintain a weight of X to remain employed. You have to pay them to hit the gym on company time or pay their gym fees and an allowance.” So the company filed that away under “fuck that”. Now if you get too fat for the equipment they just move you to a different duty, often one with a shitload of walking around.

Yeah, its rare that its definitively proven either way. I’m saying that I dont blame people for wanting to believe their friends and family are innocent when accused of rape famous or not.

I also throw into the equation “How much time has passed?”

I’m no massive fan but Mark Wahlberg is a good example, dude was a straight up violent racist asshole when he was young but the last thing was in 1992. I just cant bring myself to be mad at a 54yo for something he did 23 years ago.

I kind of feel for people who were close with people who were outed as sex offenders, because they didnt come in on monday “Hey, Danny! How was your weekend?” “Bro I spiked a girls drink and raped her in my car, it was awesome.” I worked with a guy for years, his daughter had “issues” and then one day it came out that he was a sexual abuser of his own daughter. Which explained her mental health issues. In that case he quit his job, got his affairs in order and pled guilty. But I still remember thinking he was a great guy, until he wasnt… now I’m going to find it really hard to not pop his nose out the back of his fucking head if I ever run into him again.

Now throw in the potential “attention seeking” behaviors that could happen with famous people, people hoping for a payout, jilted exes and someone you have known for years swearing up and down they didnt do it… Id want to support my friend too.

I had a buddy growing up who had a really hard time coming to terms with being gay because he really loved lifting weights, football, dirt bikes and hard rock. He was “One of the boys” in an era when most of the portrayal of gay people in popular media was (and I say this with all love) mostly flamboyant lisping queens.

Fortunately his story had a happy ending, but role models are important.

I want to see more “Benign Queerness”

Its briefly mentioned that the character is gay or bi or trans and then it never comes up again because its not relevant to their job in a hospital/cop/whatever.

Standing next to mass grave

“But what kind of socialist are you?”

Fighting back, documenting and contacting the union usually doesnt work the first time but each time theres another incidence of something that could be considered inappropriate behavior the pressure mounts in your favor.

HR is there to protect the company, but once you can show a pattern HR is there to protect the company Once the cost of you potentially suing for them failing in their duty of care to protect you from workplace bullying and harassment is more than the cost of replacing the assholes doing it then they will act.

The biggest issue is with this that nobody is perfect, and you biting back one time or giving them anything to complain about you to management puts you back at square one.